What Goes Up

by Katie Kennedy

[Sam@WLABB]

What if there was a another Earth out there, where another you lived? That was the idea behind the fictional Multi-World Agency, and they were looking for the best and the brightest to become Team 3 at the agency. This search brought all the top teens in the nation to Iowa, where they had to battle for a spot on the team, and remain to prepare for future missions. However, with the arrival of an alien spacecraft, that mission may have come sooner than expected.

This was a really fun adventure! I found myself so engrossed by the testing portion in the beginning of the book. The challenges were really interesting and some, quite unique. The process of elimination was enthralling, but I also liked the way Kennedy took us into the minds of the recruits, and gave us a better understanding of all the reasoning and emotions involved.

The story was not only fun, it was funny. The characters often used humor and exchanged snappy and snarky banter, which kept a smile on my face. Keep an eye out for Eddie's knock-knock jokes. They were super corny, but I love the motivation behind them.

There was a third F that was a standout for me too - friendship. I guess when you are thrown into a life or death situation, you will often form bonds with those, who are there with you, but the friendship formed by Team 3 was deeper. You saw it in the little things and the big things. In the things they were willing to do and the things they were willing to risk. Examples of that were all over this book, and not only the idea of friendship, but also the idea teamwork. I love the focus on these things, and all the ways Kennedy incorporated them into this tale.

There were lots of great characters in this book, but the stars were Eddie and Rosa for me. I instantly loved them both, but for different reasons.

Eddie seemed like the outsider, like he didn't belong among this elite group. He was well equipped for each challenge, however, the shadow of his past hung over him. Eddie had a backstory, that will hit you in the feels. I loved that he achieved so much despite his past, and I was rooting for him the whole time. He wanted this. He needed this, and I needed this for him.

Rosa grew up with the scientific elite, but she always felt like she had to prove herself, because of her pedigree. It was fantastic seeing her and Eddie, people from such different circumstances, come together and become a dynamic duo. But the beauty of these two characters was not in how brilliant they were, but rather, how they suffered from the same issues as other teens: fear of failure, loneliness, the need to belong. These things gave the characters more depth, and in my opinion, made them more interesting and relatable.

As a former physics teacher, my colleagues and I always lamented how high school physics ends with discoveries from the 1930s. Therefore, I was excited to see more modern ideas, like the Many Worlds Theory, mentioned in this book. A dissertation on the theory would not be appropriate, but maybe one teen will read this story and want to learn more. You never know.

Overall: A fantastic and often-times, thrilling adventure filled with friendship, witty banter, and out of this world fun.

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